Great Ideas Are Cheap: What Actually Gets Funded
Unlock investor insights with Josh Tanzer and the OEMBA Alumni Network.
Markets shift fast—and the investment world isn’t exactly waiting for anyone to catch up. Join us as Josh Tanzer, managing partner at Principia Growth, breaks down what actually matters when evaluating companies, technologies, and emerging opportunities.
Whether you're deep in venture or growth equity, or navigating these conversations for the first time, you’ll get clear, usable insights on:
- How investors pinpoint real value in today’s market
- AI’s impact on both opportunity and operational complexity
- What separates companies that scale from those that stall—beyond the “great idea”
- The patterns Josh sees in successful investments
- Lessons learned from deals that didn’t work
You’ll leave with a sharper sense of what investors watch for and how founders and operators can position themselves more effectively.
This event is open to all alumni. This event is hosted by the Oregon Executive MBA Alumni Network, in partnership with the UOAA Duck Career Network.
Registration
This is a free event, but registration is required to receive the link.
Attendees will receive a reminder email about the event directly from Zoom.
We encourage attendees to submit questions when registering for this discussion to ensure a more personalized and engaging experience.
Meet Our Speaker
Josh Tanzer, Managing Partner, Principia Growth
Josh has extensive experience in the technology investment landscape. Josh’s 30 year career spans senior leadership roles at Credit Suisse, Lazard and Jefferies, where he played a pivotal role in securing growth financing for more than 100 software and technology-enabled companies, alongside investing in a handful of industry changing companies at their formative stage, including Salesforce, Vonage, Datek, Zendesk, Splunk, CommVault among others. All totaled to over $6.5 billion of equity financings. Josh is a past Board Chair of PS Arts, the largest arts education program in Sothern California and is a former Peace Corps volunteer who assisted building one of the first microlending programs in Latin America. Currently he is co-founder and Managing Partner of Principia Growth, a private late stage tech investing platform for family offices and individuals.
Questions?
Email Susan Ordonez, BA ’09, MA ’18, or call the UO Alumni Association at 800-245-ALUM.
This event is open to all UO alumni, UOAA members, faculty, staff, students, families, and their guests.
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